A Lakewood, Illinois developer is seeking federal stimulus dollars as well as EB-5 investors to help fund a 200 acre sports complex featuring a 125,000 building. From the Lakewood Herald:
The business plan states that the facility will create 420 permanent jobs, bring in 600,000 visitors a year, and make $15 million in its first year. Its business model is not reliant on rental – it will own the leagues and create revenue through attendance and merchandising.
McHenry County received $27.5 million in federal bonding authority for private projects under the $789 billion American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. The bonds are meant to encourage lending for shovel-ready projects by giving investors a 45 percent refund of the federal taxes payable on them.
The full County Board must approve the request, which it likely will do at its next meeting Jan. 5.
The other funding source will come from a federal financing program called employment based fifth preference, or EB-5. The program, created in 1990, offers foreign investors who create or save jobs permanent resident status.
Joining Tenore at Tuesday’s meeting were the two investment banking firms who are going to underwrite the stimulus bonds and the EB-5 investment
.